1999/10/28 by Andrew E. Dolphin, A. E. Dolphin · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #History and Developments in Astronomy #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03197.x
8 pages, 11 figures Accepted for publication in MNRAS
arxiv created 1999/10/28 · openalex publication_date 2000/04/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Ground-based UBV photometry of two fields in the northern disc of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is presented. A distance modulus of (m—M)0=18.41±0.04 and an extinction of AV=0.30±0.05 have been calculated for these fields. The measurable star formation history of the LMC began no more than 12 Gyr ago with a strong star-forming episode with [Fe/H]=−1.63±0.10 that accounted for approximately half (by mass) of the total star formation of the LMC in the first 3 Gyr. The data do not give accurate star formation rates during intermediate ages, but there appears to have been a recent increase in the star formation rate in these fields, beginning approximately 2.5 Gyr ago, with the current metallicity in the region being [Fe/H]=−0.38±0.10. The two fields have had very similar star formation rates until 200 Myr ago, at which point one shows a large increase.